duggs
Killing me softly
Silver Level
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hackmeplz
Sleep Faster
Silver Level
If you're in LP and you're playing in such a way that it's NOT profitable for your opponents to get AK in for 100bb it's you who has the leak. You're either playing way too passive or you're just a huge nit.
But mostly just this.
W
Weisssound
Rock Star
Silver Level
All hands the strength of a hand is relative. AK is a great defending hand. It's a great pushing hand if you are close to the bubble. But its ultimately best as a small pot hand. The only times it really wins big is if your opponent also has a K and a K comes - or if your opponent is betting because they have either an A or a K, missed the flop, and are a semi-bluffing hoping to catch one. The problem with A K is that aces and kings tend to slow people down. It's not good for extracting value in any easy way. You tend to have to play to the river to get value which can be potentially very bad.
So A K is a hand where you are likely to win a small pot, but could possibly lose a big one.
So A K is a hand where you are likely to win a small pot, but could possibly lose a big one.
D
docdrew
Rising Star
Bronze Level
It's a great hand to get aggressive with preflop against smaller stacks or if you are short stacked. Often times it can be a hand that you need to see all 5 cards with. I feel like the hand plays best in coin flip situations because you generally have your opponent dominated or you have 2 overs. Calling with it when several people are all in in front of you is generally going to leave you wishing you hadn't played it though.
Figaroo2
Legend
Bronze Level
And to prove the point about getting knocked out,,,,here is your clear example,.... I wouldn't have minded losing to the QQ but the 8,10 just STINKS..
poker stars, $1 Buy-in (125/250 blinds, 25 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament,
BB: 8,885 (35.5 bb)
UTG+1: 12,554 (50.2 bb)
UTG+2: 13,247 (53 bb)
MP1: 11,223 (44.9 bb)
MP2: 5,415 (21.7 bb)
MP3: 3,959 (15.8 bb)
CO: 2,625 (10.5 bb)
BTN: 5,707 (22.8 bb)
Hero (SB): 10,035 (40.1 bb)
Preflop: Hero is SB with Kd Ac
UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 raises to 750, MP1 calls 750, 3 folds, BTN calls 750, Hero raises to 2,500, BB folds, UTG+2 calls 1,750, MP1 folds, BTN raises to 5,682 and is all-in, Hero raises to 8,864, UTG+2 raises to 13,222 and is all-in, Hero calls 1,146 and is all-in
Flop: (26,927) 8h Jd 2s (3 players, 3 are all-in)
Turn: (26,927) Th (3 players, 3 are all-in)
River: (26,927) Tc (3 players, 3 are all-in)
Results: 26,927 pot
Final Board: 8h Jd 2s Th Tc
UTG+2 showed Td 8d and won 26,927 (16,892 net)
BTN showed Qs Qc and lost (-5,707 net)
Hero showed Kd Ac and lost (-10,035 net)
poker stars, $1 Buy-in (125/250 blinds, 25 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament,
BB: 8,885 (35.5 bb)
UTG+1: 12,554 (50.2 bb)
UTG+2: 13,247 (53 bb)
MP1: 11,223 (44.9 bb)
MP2: 5,415 (21.7 bb)
MP3: 3,959 (15.8 bb)
CO: 2,625 (10.5 bb)
BTN: 5,707 (22.8 bb)
Hero (SB): 10,035 (40.1 bb)
Preflop: Hero is SB with Kd Ac
UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 raises to 750, MP1 calls 750, 3 folds, BTN calls 750, Hero raises to 2,500, BB folds, UTG+2 calls 1,750, MP1 folds, BTN raises to 5,682 and is all-in, Hero raises to 8,864, UTG+2 raises to 13,222 and is all-in, Hero calls 1,146 and is all-in
Flop: (26,927) 8h Jd 2s (3 players, 3 are all-in)
Turn: (26,927) Th (3 players, 3 are all-in)
River: (26,927) Tc (3 players, 3 are all-in)
Results: 26,927 pot
Final Board: 8h Jd 2s Th Tc
UTG+2 showed Td 8d and won 26,927 (16,892 net)
BTN showed Qs Qc and lost (-5,707 net)
Hero showed Kd Ac and lost (-10,035 net)
S
smidjet
Rock Star
Silver Level
AK is a monster hand as is any top 5 hand but as is true with any big hand they are not always easy to play because any big flop hits most callers also.Playing players is far more important than playing cards and knowing what a players tendencies are is what makes playing hands - big hands or donkabout hands-correctly is all about.
C
Countmein
Enthusiast
Silver Level
The strength of AK is that it's two overs to any pair not AA, KK and if suited drawing to nut flush. Also gives highest straight but with no top end to str8 it'll rarely be more than an 18 outter to nuts. Almost never shove anything but AA preflop deep stacked. Call a shove with it depending on opponents shove frequency and perceived ranges
C
Countmein
Enthusiast
Silver Level
Also should say position matters as does stage of tourney. That being said AK is a drawing hand and in my opinion a semi bluff as a shove as you are rarely favored in a race against any pair (unless 22,33) and are only slightly ahead of other suited connectors. Still best coin flip there is and I'm never mad to go home with it if short stacked though I'll admit there have been times where I've folded it pre flop both live and online
T
turtelliusshellius
Enthusiast
Silver Level
I believe this to be true depending on what level you are playing. When playing micro, the fish all tend to overvalue bad aces and small pocket pairs. I still think you should play it cautiously, but if you are in a micro tourney, you shouldn't always be folding it to a 3 or 4 bet. This is where paying attention comes into play, because if you are watching your table and you watch a guy 3 bet with A-10 in the cutoff, you know he could be overvaluing his aces (as long as he's not 3 betting just because a guy is opening every hand). I think it's important to be aware of players who may be overplaying hands because in that case you can take advantage of them with your AK. Especially players who will 4 bet with AQ, or 3 bet shove with AQ or AJ.
Now when it comes to post flop play, aggression is always the factor. I don't know how many times I've raised pre, c-bet air, got called, and then hit an A or K on the turn (I'm going to say about 14% of the times since that's the stats. lol) then got the player to call me all the way down with the pair he hit on the flop because he thought I was 2 or 3 barreling air (now take into consideration that I have a hyper aggro style/image). So it's not that AK is a bad hand, it's just knowing when to fold and when to play strong that are important.
Now when it comes to post flop play, aggression is always the factor. I don't know how many times I've raised pre, c-bet air, got called, and then hit an A or K on the turn (I'm going to say about 14% of the times since that's the stats. lol) then got the player to call me all the way down with the pair he hit on the flop because he thought I was 2 or 3 barreling air (now take into consideration that I have a hyper aggro style/image). So it's not that AK is a bad hand, it's just knowing when to fold and when to play strong that are important.
ChipEaterMan
Rock Star
Bronze Level
you should see the flop with AK, unless you are a short stack, or you are a big stack playing against a short stack in a tourney.
Your AK weren't even suited so don't cry. If you go allin preflop with AK you should expect a coin flip
Your AK weren't even suited so don't cry. If you go allin preflop with AK you should expect a coin flip
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Propane Goat
Grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't
Moderator
I was in a 10-player DoN the other night with 8 remaining, had AKs in the SB with ~10BB. MP shoves 4BB, hijack calls, cutoff calls, button goes all-in with over 15BB.
Do I call? Oh hell no, but the hijack and cutoff did. All four had pocket pairs, button had AA and MP had JJ, hijack had 99 but who won? The cutoff with 55 who flopped a set. I would have folded this even in a regular STT, the button's shove after an all-in and two calls screams AA/KK.
Like everything else, it's so incredibly situational. In this case, AKs would have been almost worthless against that kind of action and it only took a few minutes to finish the game after that hand.
If the pot was unopened then there's no way in hell I'm folding AKs in the SB, based on stack sizes, reads, players remaining I'm either raising or shoving but never folding. Maybe I'll think about limping if I've played against the BB before and already know that he likes to shove wide if the SB limps.
Do I call? Oh hell no, but the hijack and cutoff did. All four had pocket pairs, button had AA and MP had JJ, hijack had 99 but who won? The cutoff with 55 who flopped a set. I would have folded this even in a regular STT, the button's shove after an all-in and two calls screams AA/KK.
Like everything else, it's so incredibly situational. In this case, AKs would have been almost worthless against that kind of action and it only took a few minutes to finish the game after that hand.
If the pot was unopened then there's no way in hell I'm folding AKs in the SB, based on stack sizes, reads, players remaining I'm either raising or shoving but never folding. Maybe I'll think about limping if I've played against the BB before and already know that he likes to shove wide if the SB limps.
Poker Orifice
FoolsTilt
Platinum Level
this ^ is not true
LeeCallaghan
Visionary
Silver Level
Propane Goat
Grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't
Moderator
I think the point Poker Orifice was making is that you can't assume that you're always up against a non-AA/KK pocket pair. AK vs AA is most certainly not a flip, you're only 11.5% to win, and AK is ~70% to win over other Aces but we all know how often the villain seems to pair the kicker somewhere along the line in these situations.
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